Before the Troubles

For many it’s hard to imagine what life was like in Ukraine before the troubles. But I remember clearly, and especially around this time of year.

The seasonal changes seems to happen quickly in Ukraine. Like some scene from ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’, the cold snowed stacked streets with six foot icicles are replaced almost overnight with blooming trees and spring flowers. The fur coats and hats disappear and are replaced with short skirts and sunglasses. The sound of knee high boots crunching amongst the snow covered streets rushing towards the metro station is exchanged for the click clack of heels of the many devushka’s rushing towards landmarks to have photos taken for their Vkontakte page.

It’s a great time of year to grab a coffee and people watch. Hitting the streets, I recall going to my favourite coffee seller and practising my Russian phrases with her. And like many Ukrainians, she in turn was keen to practice her english with me. I had made many friends there and gradually started to understand how things work.